A Mother’s Journey: Surangi's story

EU, WVL

“If only I knew earlier, my life wouldn't be this way. My parents died young, and I was raised by my aunt, sometimes left alone in the convent school. I never learned what it meant to share my life truly – that made me arrogant and rude.”

Surangi, a mother of two from Janasavipura, faced hardships from an early age. Her early marriage and struggles as a young mother led her to leave her job to protect her daughters from the dangers in their community.

Her involvement as a World Vision volunteer changed her outlook. As a volunteer, Surangi is directly involved with families in organizing various family enrichment programmes and cultural exposures. She began to experience the difficulties families go through especially adolescent girls and women in the fishing community. She got the opportunity to get involved with the Grassroots Conflict Prevention (Grace) Project. Through the Grace Project, she’s gained invaluable skills in empathetic listening, transforming how she supports her daughters and other vulnerable girls.

"The Grace Project's training on befriending and empathetic listening – it's been invaluable, for my daughters and my community. People see a different Surangi now." 

The befriending and empathetic listening programme implemented by the Grace project focuses on teaching community members, teachers, and government officials how to listen with empathy when interacting with the public and children. Through this initiative, Surangi was able to be a friend to her daughters.

Parents are too busy making ends meet. Feeding and sending them to school is their idea of parenting. This life is harsh. That's why this training is my most precious tool. I can be my daughter's friend, a confidante for her worries, and for other vulnerable girls at the dangerous edge of womanhood too.

The Grace Project, funded by the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) of the European Commission, supports over 130,000 people in Sri Lanka’s Western and North-western provinces, helping those vulnerable to social and economic conflicts.